This Week in College Basketball
Bona prepares to step up its game
Published: December 15, 2009, 12:04 am
Story tools:
Share this story:
When St. Bonaventure stepped up in class back on Dec. 5 the result resounded: Mississippi State 105, Bona 53.
The best thing to be said about that game is the Bonnies quickly put it out of mind. They rebounded with victories over Le Moyne and Savannah State, improving to 6-3, and developing a refreshed mindset for likely the biggest challenge they'll face all season: Saturday night's meeting with unbeaten and fifth-ranked Syracuse in the Carrier Dome.
"It's exciting for us to be able to go up there and play in the Carrier Dome and compete against the best," Bona coach Mark Schmidt said Monday. "You always want to challenge yourself and see where you stand. It's a game that we have nothing to lose. We're not expected to win. We'll just go up there, play our hardest and see what happens."
Syracuse is the first of four non-conference games remaining before Bona opens Atlantic 10 play Jan. 6 against George Washington in the Reilly Center. The Bonnies are at Niagara on Dec. 22, entertain Canisius on Dec. 30 and travel to Marshall of Conference USA Jan. 2.
"The whole non-conference we wanted to upgrade, and I think we did that," Schmidt said. "We had a great game against St. John's, played well and had a chance. Played well out at Illinois State. And then Mississippi State was Mississippi State. But, yeah, you look at the next four and it's very, very challenging against very good teams.
"Syracuse is one of the best teams in the country and then Niagara and Canisius are the Little Three, the big rivalry, and Marshall's playing extremely well in Conference USA. We knew going into the season that the non-conference schedule was going to be very challenging and it's lived up to it."
Canisius bogged down
Canisius coach Tom Parrotta remains optimistic the Griffs are on the right track despite a sharp decline in scoring that saw them put up 57 in a loss to Manhattan and 54 in Saturday's loss to Bowling Green.
"It all comes down to styles, and when you run into a style like a Manhattan ... Manhattan held Hofstra to 44 points the other day and only scored 39," Parrotta said. "So that's Manhattan. That's the way they play. Bowling Green has won the last three games, and now four, based on them running back into a 2-3 zone and saying "All right, beat us over the top.' So you have to at times make shots to loosen them up a little bit."
The Griffs are challenged in the front court without 6-foot-9 senior Chris Gadley (Amherst), who's sitting out the semester to tend to academics. Junior forward Greg Logins had his struggles Saturday against Bowling Green's tall, aggressive post players. Junior forward Elton Frazier remains slow to develop, while freshman guard Alshwan Hymes has shown improved shot selection from the perimeter. Right now the Griffs are most dangerous offensively with a three-guard offense of Frank Turner, Julius Coles and Hymes with Logins and Tomas Vazquez-Simmons down low.
And it's not as though going smaller would hurt them on the boards. Frazier's averaging 13 minutes. He has 14 defensive rebounds on the season.
The shackles won't necessarily come off Wednesday night. The Griffs (4-4) are at Duquesne (7-3), which has allowed 58 points or fewer in regulation during three of its last four games. The Dukes hit overtime against Pitt on Dec. 2 tied at 53.
Beyond the Arc
• Fairfield (8-2, 2-0) is already halfway to last year's 16 victories, and keying the surge has been — gasp — a freshman point guard. Five-foot-11 Derek Needham is averaging nearly 16 points. He's coming off a 14-assist, four-turnover performance in a win against Sacred Heart. Needham's also done wonders for 6-5 junior forward Yorel Hawkins, who's doubled last year's scoring averaging to 16.8.
• The go-to player at Akron (5-3), the defending MAC Tournament champ? It's either all or none. No Zip averages more than 8.9 points, but four players average at least eight and seven average at least six. Zeke Marshall, the 7-foot freshman center, is receiving more time as he acclimates. Marshall totaled six points and eight rebounds in 22 minutes of a 12-point loss at No. 16 Texas A&M. He was ranked as a Top 50 recruit nationally.
• Presuming he returns healthy and ready to roll, Niagara could be better off in the long run for time spent without Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Player of the Year candidate Bilal Benn (knee). His absence means more minutes for others, including highly regarded freshman forward Scooter Gillette, who had seven points in Sunday's shockingly emphatic 76-68 win at Illinois State. By March no one in the MAAC should be capable of matching Niagara's depth, and certainly not preseason favorite Siena, which has been riding its starters heavily.
• Interesting matchups abound on the national scene Saturday. No. 2 Texas plays at No. 10 North Carolina, No. 15 Gonzaga visits No. 7 Duke and John Beilein's Michigan Wolverines travel to Lawrence to face No. 1 Kansas and its mind-boggling array of talent. Beilein's club is 6-4 overall, but only 1-3 outside Ann Arbor.
Newsletters
Sign up now for daily and weekly newsletters from BuffaloNews.com and get quick links to the info you want delivered directly to your inbox.Reader comments
Log into MyBuffalo to post a comment
MyBuffalo is the new social network from Buffalo.com. Your MyBuffalo account lets you comment on and rate stories at buffalonews.com. You can also head over to mybuffalo.com to share your blog posts, stories, photos, and videos with the community. Join now or learn more.
Comments have been disabled.
Due to a high volume of submissions that violate The News’ guidelines, commenting is no longer available on this story. If you’d like to share your thoughts on this story, click here to get information on contributing to The News’ opinion pages.